... I downloaded Hiren's from their homepage last night and installed to a pendrive. I found no less than 5 trojans on the ziped folder which was downloaded from the Hiren's site and subsequently in the thumbdrive which I created as well. Too bad, as this looked like a wonderful tool for rescuing windows boxes

Nobody is forcing you here.
Above all ---this advice may or may not fix your problems. "

::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Hiren's has no trojans.

More likely it is BS Antivirus programs like AVG, Norton's and the like
reporting false positives.

Hiren's disclaimer..........'

" Troubleshoot

If you are getting a virus warning from the downloaded files, please check FAQ page “Why am I getting a virus warning for a file downloaded from your website” section.

If you are getting redirected to the download page or homepage while you are trying to download the file, please disable the softwares or settings can be blocking referer headers of your browser, connect directly if you are using a proxy, close your browser, clean browser cache and try again.

Please check FAQ page for any other frequently asked questions. "

"""""""

" The files downloaded from our website are NOT edited,
they are the original files.

" Hi Folks. I've just discovered that C|Net's Download.Com site has
started wrapping their Nmap downloads (as well as other free software
like VLC) in a trojan installer which does things like installing a
sketchy "StartNow" toolbar, changing the user's default search engine
to Microsoft Bing, and changing their home page to Microsoft's MSN. "

There’s nothing worse than thoughtless people sending you
Office 2007 or 2010 saved files…
and you just can’t open them.... because of newer formats.

OK...for me it's not a big deal...I have workarounds.
But for most people it's a wtf.

"We'll have to buy the newest Microsoft Office "
Well save your money and give those Bsss...nothing.

Of course with a little thought you can save them in an older
MS Office format before emailing them out.
But that’s the MS mentality of users.

And you wonder why Open Office and Libre Office were created.
You can convert MS docs etc with both of these products.
However always keep a backup file in case it is not quite right.
Or save it as a slightly different name.

" Alternatively, you can convert .xlsx to .xls or other text formats
online using the Zamzar.com service here.

Unlike the Microsoft compatibility pack,
the Zamzar .xlsx to .xls conversion services
will not require a copy of Microsoft Office on your computer.

Read >>> Blog - News from Zamzar

and >> The Problem (Microsoft) Microsoft Madness

" We’re pleased to announce that from today if you have a
Microsoft Powerpoint file older than 1997 that doesn’t open
in Microsoft Powerpoint 2007 or Microsoft Powerpoint 2010
you can now use Zamzar to convert it into a 1997-2003 version
of Powerpoint which makes it compatible with the latest 2007 and
2010 versions of Powerpoint.

You can convert files from such ancient versions of PowerPoint as v3.0 – released 20 years ago in 1992 !"

Still...making...the leap out of my Windows (XP) environment - stuck with Outlook2002 'cos it works with my PDA's (Toshiba e740 and e400 - pocketPC2002/2003)*. ClamWin and Clam Sentinel work fabulously in this setup. Coupla false positives with virus detection - usually XLSX files from colleague's MS Office2010 (lol).
Thanks for the heads-up on Zamzar - I've got old xls files in Excel97 that even SoftMaker Office2010 doesn't include translators for, so that should be a great stop-gap solution.

Would love to see you have a channel like icyos or crustylobster, or even sneeky with all these tips, but I understand that is a massive undertaking.

"I have a 15 page physical document that I want to an editable
MS Word document."

etc

Answer from >> Andhrímnir

Microsoft Office Document Imaging

" If your scanner software doesn't have an OCR program and you
are using Microsoft Office 2003 or 2007 then chances are you
already have an OCR program
called Microsoft Office Document Imaging,
while it's also possible to install for Office 2010 but no longer
comes as standard. "

etc.

Reply from >> comfixer

" Amazing Andhrimnir,
MODI can interface with the native scanner software and has icon
for "Send Text to Microsoft Word".

Just tested it for first time (why I love WP )
Not sure of OP's expectation here,
if it's to save typing then MODI will do the job. "

Recently, I bought a used Toshiba Tecra laptop at a yard sale.
I figured I would burn the restore CDs with verify and that part worked fine.
I then used them to restore drive C to factory specs.
But.
After jumping through a few hoops to get service pack 3 installed, I figured I would open Windows Update and let it update windows XP Pro.
It said I needed Microsoft Update and as part of it, it installed Windows Genuine Advantage.
And when that ran, it said it could not determine if my install of Windows XP Pro was legal.
I never got any messages saying I had a copy (pirated) of it and later, Genuine Advantage installed an ICON on the task bar and would run at random times with a result of "Not able to determine ...."
The damn install is a legal install and tech support at MS said as much.
But their software is flakey.
At this point, I am ready to forget Windows and use the version of Puppy I have installed on the same laptop!

I should mention I also downloaded and ran software (not from microsoft) that removed Windows Genuine Advantage.
So far, that has worked.
I will keep you informed though.

.. I figured I would burn the restore CDs with verify and that part worked fine. I then used them to restore drive C to factory specs..

I believe a reference number on the HDD (in the MBR ?) is used to check if the installation is genuine. If that data has been wiped from the HDD then the "genuine" check won't work, even though you have installed a genuine copy of the micro$oft OS.